


In Bloom

by brinnanza



Category: Farscape, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Botany, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/F, Gratuitous Plant Metaphors, Pre-Canon, Sharing Unity, unity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2016-12-02
Packaged: 2018-09-03 17:39:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8723017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brinnanza/pseuds/brinnanza
Summary: “Tell me,” the woman says once Keiko has stowed her bag and settled into the seat beside her. “Are you familiar with Delvians? I should think we would be most fascinating to someone of your profession.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [DS9 Reverse Bang](http://ds9reversebang.tumblr.com/) for [this piece](http://antonomasia09.tumblr.com/post/151360952296/keiko-and-zhaan-share-unity-for-ds9reversebang) of Keiko and Zhaan sharing unity by [antonomasia09](http://antonomasia09.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Thanks a million to Jazzy for the last minute beta,

The shuttle is crowded when Keiko boards, her overstuffed bag slung over one shoulder, and the only free seat is next to a women with skin the color of a cloudless sky. 

“Tell me,” the woman says once Keiko has stowed her bag and settled into the seat beside her. “Are you familiar with Delvians? I should think we would be most fascinating to someone of your profession.” There’s an enigmatic smile tugging at the corner of her mouth: it’s an inquiry and an invitation all of once, and Keiko finds herself tempted to accept before she even knows the woman’s name. 

She raises one challenging eyebrow. “And what profession would that be?” she asks. 

The blue woman’s eyes sweep over her, the Astean Gardenia fastened in her hair, the dirt from field studies on half a dozen worlds that clings stubbornly to her boots and her bag. The intensity of the woman’s gaze sends a little frisson of excitement down Keiko’s spine. “You work with plants. Botanist, yes?”

“Yes,” Keiko says, a little amazed. People usually guess gardener, and they usually assume it’s a hobby. It’s not exactly wrong -- her career has a tendency to spill into her free time, and the sprawling collection of bonsai trees in her bedroom back on Earth is hardly work related -- but it’s a pleasant change of pace to be taken as a scientist without needing to explain it. “I’m studying the effect of ionic radiation from Lyshala’s solar flares on the local flora.”

The woman’s smile slides into a smirk, and there is a glint of something mischievous in her eyes. “You could say I’m doing the same.”

“Oh, are you a botanist too?” It would certainly explain the ease with which she had identified Keiko’s vocation. 

“Oh no, my dear, I’m a priest by trade. No, in the way that humans are descended from the apes on your world, Delvians are the descendants of ancient flora on my world.” She leans forward, running her fingertips over the back of Keiko’s forearm, her eyes full of mirth. “I did say you’d be intrigued by my kind.”

A breath catches in Keiko’s chest, and she’s unsure whether it’s from the words or the touch. She has met humanoids whose species had evolved from all manner of fauna, but _flora_?

Questions rise up in her mind like a cloud of dandelion seeds, warring with the warmth pooling low in her belly for her attention. Initial studies of ionic radiation had shown increased pollen production in flowering plants subjected to it -- how did that translate to a more complex organism? Field tests were surely called for -- although perhaps not exactly in the way Keiko’s mind is currently imagining.

The woman laughs, no doubt at the awestruck expression on Keiko’s face. “I’m happy to answer any questions you have,” she says, “though I do hope you will grant me the courtesy of your name first.”

Warmth blossoms in Keiko’s cheeks. “Of course,” she says. “I’m Keiko.” She holds out her hand to shake.

“And I am Zhaan.” Her hand envelops Keiko’s slowly as she drags her fingertips over Keiko’s palm. Her grip is light and her touch is electric. “Now what would you like to know?”

 

The house that Keiko is renting on Lyshala is on the edge of a small town that overlooks a field of rolling hills. The field fades into a forest that climbs up into the mountains in the distance, providing Keiko with plenty of different types of flora for her study, except, perhaps, the one whose properties she is suddenly more intrigued by.

The house is more than big enough for two, and the invitation slips from Keiko’s lips before she can think better of it. The mid-morning sun is high overhead, and Zhaan kisses her in reply.

 

The days on Lyshala are shorter than Earth standard. In the mornings, when the sun is low behind the mountains, and in the evenings as it’s setting, Keiko takes soil samples and clippings, reviews her data, runs errands. The science is as compelling as she’d anticipated, and she has already formulated several practical agricultural applications. 

In the afternoons, when the sun is bright and the flares are at their peak, Keiko and Zhaan lie together in the valley between the hills, and Keiko sees firsthand the effect the radiation has on Delvians. “A gift of the Seek,” Zhaan pants, her back arched up to the sun. Her eyes drift closed and her mouth goes slack with pleasure. 

She’s an Edosian orchid, glorious and beautiful and surely dangerous. When the flare fades, she rolls onto her side and looks down at Keiko with a predatory gleam in her eye before kissing her way down Keiko’s body.

Keiko may not be Delvian, but Zhaan ensures she enjoys Lyshala’s solar flares just as much.

 

A cold front rolls through, and the storm that pops up in its wake keeps them inside through the afternoon. Keiko is perfectly content to spend the day at her computer, combing through the data she’s collected, but Zhaan tugs her back to the bedroom. They lie skin to skin in the dark, listening to the rain, and Zhaan whispers, “I want to share unity with you.”

Keiko raises her hand to Zhaan’s face and brushes a thumb over her cheekbone. She doesn’t know what it means, but she knows their time here is fleeting, and she will cherish every moment Zhaan gives her. “Of course,” she says, sliding her hand around to the back of Zhaan’s neck. “Anything.”

Zhaan runs her hand along Keiko’s arm, raising goosebumps in her wake, and then her expression turns serious. She sits up, pulling Keiko up alongside her. “Unity is a practice of the Delvian Seek,” she explains, “and not one generally practiced outside of the order, It is not something I offer lightly, and I want you to understand the significance.” 

“Tell me,” Keiko says. She shifts on the bed so she is kneeling in front of Zhaan, her head bowed, and Zhaan takes both of her hands. 

She studies Keiko for a moment, assessing her intent and, finding it acceptable, says, “Unity is a sacred act to my people. Two souls come together to become one, irrevocably entwined for all time. You will always carry a part of me and I of you.” Zhaan releases Keiko’s hands and cups her face instead, meeting Keiko’s gaze with wide, solemn eyes. “I warn you that it can be dangerous for non-telepathic races. I will understand if that sounds like too much for you.”

Keiko is a practical woman, firmly rooted in earth like a great oak tree. Despite the swell of emotion in her breast, she is well aware that what she feels for Zhaan lacks the history to be love, but she is young, a fresh blossom with her face turned up toward the sun, and the summer still feels endless. Zhaan has intoxicated her since that first moment aboard the shuttle -- why should she crave Zhaan’s soul any less?

“Yes,” Keiko says, and the answering kiss that Zhaan lays upon her mouth is reverent.

 

They wait until sunset, when the last streaks of light have faded from the sky and the storm clouds leave behind a bright wash of stars to guide their way back to the glen. A chill hangs in the air, but it isn’t the temperature that sends a shiver racing down Keiko’s spine.

They kneel in front of each other in the cool grass, and Zhaan presses a chaste kiss to Keiko’s mouth. She settles her palms to rest on Keiko’s cheeks, and the warmth seeps into her skin. “Your hands too, my dear,” Zhaan says, and Keiko complies.

Zhaan draws her forward until their foreheads rest together. “Are you ready?” Zhaan asks. Her breath is a warm puff of air on Keiko’s lips.

“Yes,” Keiko says, and she closes her eyes.

One moment she is aware of her body, of the cool breeze on her bare skin and the sounds of night birds in the forest, and the next she is somewhere else, slipping into the spaces between like a whisper of silk. She had always thought herself to be an open person with no particular need to build walls to hide behind, but now that she can see it all laid bare, she sees how many she had unthinkingly erected, bits and pieces of her soul hidden away from those who wouldn’t understand.

She is also cognizant of how lonely it had been in her mind. Here, Zhaan’s presence surrounds her, warm like the first rays of sunshine after a long, bleak winter, sinking into her skin until she can no longer see the lines where she ends and Zhaan begins. There is so much life, so many more years that Keiko could have imagined -- she didn’t think even joined Trill lived so long, and her own years are a single seed in the sunflower of Zhaan’s life. 

Light extends in every direction, illuminating the contours of their minds and banishing all but the most distant shadows. She could spend eternity here, touching all the places where their souls intertwine. Keiko doesn’t believe in gods, but surely there is something divine in this.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathes.

“I’m afraid we can’t stay long,” Zhaan says, and Keiko understands without words. The distant shadows are creeping closer, and Zhaan can only keep them at bay for so long before they threaten to consume them both.

“Thank you,” Keiko says, and then she slides back into herself once again, aware of the wet grass beneath her knees and the scent of rain in the air. Tears sting at her eyes -- this no longer feels right. There is a piece of her missing, a gaping hole in her chest where an organ should be.

Zhaan pulls her close, arms wrapping around her shoulders. “Shh,” she murmurs. “Just breathe.” Her fingers comb through Keiko’s hair and the rise and fall of her chest is a steady rhythm that makes Keiko whole again. There is something new in her, broken china pieced together with the cracks outlined in gold. It’s familiar and strange at the same time. 

Keiko thinks she will forever divide her life into before this and after it.

Eventually, her breathing steadies and she sits up so she can meet Zhaan’s eyes. There is so much hidden there, Keiko knows. She had known much of it only a moment ago, but the memories are slipping from her mind like fine sand through her fingers.

“Come, let’s go inside,” Zhaan says. She presses a soft kiss to Keiko’s forehead and then helps her to her feet.

They make love by the light of Lyshala’s pale moon, and every touch is a benediction.

 

It ends, as all things do. The Starfleet base on Ceptyres IV has need of a botanist to study some unusual flora on the planet’s southern continent, and the position is Keiko’s if she wants it.

“I could stay,” Keiko offers as they lie side by side in the glen. It’s a token gesture and Zhaan knows it. “There’s plenty to study right here. I could base a whole career on you alone.”

Zhaan gives her a sad smile and traces her fingers across the hollow of Keiko’s hip. The sun is high overhead, but the flares are further and further apart. Soon they will stop altogether. “There is a season to all things, sweet Keiko,” Zhaan says, “and ours has come to its end. Let’s not mourn such a lovely thing; that will only taint the memory of it.”

Something sharp catches in Keiko’s chest. She imagines she can feel the jagged edges where her soul was knit to Zhaan’s. “Will I ever see you again?”

Zhaan reaches down and laces her fingers with Keiko’s, then draws their joined hands up her mouth so she can press a kiss to them. Her expression turns distant for a moment, and then she looks back at Keiko with a serene smile on her face. “Who can say in a universe so vast?”


End file.
